NA

After hearing a story from his grandmother about an ancestor who was murdered in Mississippi, the author spent decades researching the facts behind his great-great-grandfather Joseph Ring’s death in a Delta warehouse fire. Bodies of four of the five inhabitants of the warehouse that fateful night were recovered from the charred ruin. Only a few bones remained of Joseph Ring. While family history is the book’s primary purpose, the social, political, and geographical context is detailed and documented well enough to be useful to anyone interested in the local history of Vicksburg and the Delta region in the Reconstruction era. These are not my ancestors and I have no connection to the Delta, but I came to care about Joseph, his widow Barbara, and his brother George. ( )

The book tells a good story. The narrative could have used a good editing. The 2nd part of the book, which gives how to articles, is very helpful for those who wish to write family history in an engaging way. ( )

Well written, this book offers a great insight into how to use genealogy to tie history and mystery into a compelling story. Colletta did a wonderful job of using a variety of sources to bring his family's oral history/lore to life. I picked up several ideas for how to flesh out sections of my own family's history. ( )

One of the best narrative genealogies I have ever read. John makes me want to have ancestors in the Mississippi Delta! ( )